The Light Behind Your Eyes
by Those Who Dance in the Shadows
Summary: He'd lost all hope and happiness until he met a group of survivors. People who had made a somewhat regular life in this disaster. One person in particular - the tall, fierce, and oh so handsome Kagami Taiga - brought the life back into him with the burning passion and blinding hope in his fiery eyes. KagaKuro zombie AU. Rated M for violence and eventual smut.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

 _Past or Future?_

Seven brightly coloured children - teenagers, more like - sneak down a seemingly vacant street, staying as quiet as possible. Their wide eyes are alert and full of fear as well as exhaustion. Their heavy breaths and soft footsteps are the only things that can be heard, magnifying every sharp pant and leaf crushed under a shoe. They're huddled close, nearly touching. The only reason they're not clinging to each other is the weapons clutched tightly in their hands.

"I think we're okay for now," one huffs under his breath. "We should scout out one of these buildings. Maybe find some food and get some sleep."

"What about that one?" the only girl of the group asks, touching his elbow lightly with one hand and pointing at an old motel a few blocks in front of them. "There might be beds in there." Her eyes shine brightly at the thought.

"I second that," one of the others say. "Plus each room only has one way in, one way out. Easy to barricade if needed." The rest of the group seem to agree with this, so they continue heading in that direction.

Just a few steps later, one of the boys - a shorter one - suddenly stops and gestures for the others to follow suit. "Do you hear that?" he whispers as quietly as possible. They listen for a few tense seconds, trying to pick up on whatever noise the boy mentioned.

A soft creaking of metal. A low, bored groan. Obviously coming from a space between two buildings next the them.

The boy presses a finger to his mouth, signaling the others to stay silent, and creeps forward and peeks his head around the corner of the building. His eyes widen at the scene and he has to clamp a hand over his mouth to prevent a terrified noise from escaping.

Dozens of bodies, maybe a hundred of them total, leaning against a breaking metal fence. They seem almost dead - really dead, not undead - minus the few limping around the enclosure they're trapped in. Two sides of the makeshift cage are bricks, and the other three are chain-linked fencing. How someone managed to trick that many undead into there, he has no idea. The ones that are against the fence are mindlessly jamming their fingers through the holes and shaking the loose metal, not even realizing how close to freedom they are.

That's when the living boy makes a fatal mistake. He freezes, hand pressed over his open mouth and stays in view of the undead a moment too long. Their bored eyes fill with hunger, there's a loud screech from a dry, unused throat, and then a crashing of metal against cement.

"Run!" the boy demands the others, no longer worried about the volume of his voice. The creatures in the broken cage already know there's life here. There's no hiding from them now. The group of teens turn tail and sprint full speed back down the street. There's more inhuman screeching as the undead turn the corner on clumsy legs, many falling and tripping other, eyes bright with hope of a meal, being spurred on by that thought alone.

"Fuck!" one of the boys yells, shoving the girl in front of him, attempting to keep her safe as he half-turns and shoots his gun wildly. "Where the hell did they come from?"

"They were in some sort of cage," the shorter boy explains, also shooting but with a more precise aim. "They saw me and got excited, causing the fence to snap. I deeply, deeply apologize."

"Save your apologies for later!" another snaps. The creatures have found their footing and are quickly catching up, not enough bullets hitting their vital spot. "We're going to have to fight! We can't outrun them!"

He's right, the others realize. That's the best course of action at this point. The boy that has the girl in front of him points to her and to another boy next to her. "You two, keep running," he commands. "And don't fucking argue with me." The fire in his eyes gives the two confidence. With a small nod, they continue on as the rest slow down and turn, weapons raised, swallowing their fear.

They fight violently and a couple maybe recklessly. They use melee weapons: machetes and saws. They're much more effective than guns from such a close range. It only takes a few minutes for them to slice through most of the undead. Victory is within sight.

Then they hear a terrified scream from behind them.

The two that were demanded to keep running are just about to cross a street when they see hoards of undead on either side. The young girl shrieks loudly and both hoards are immediately alerted. They spot the two living and take off towards them, hungry for their warm flesh. A few quarrel with each other, knowing that there is definitely not enough to go around.

"Oh no..." the shorter boy breaths as he spots the amount of creatures spilling into the street, feeling guilty. None of this would be happening if he only moved fast enough when he saw the ones in the cage. They wouldn't have seen him and the fence wouldn't have broken. They would have been alright.

Suddenly he's thrown harshly to the ground. He feels his ankle twist and hears a bestial hissing above him. Great, now he's dead for sure. He deserves it. He should have been more professional. He closes his eyes, waiting for the end.

There's a whoosh of sharp metal and a splatter of blood around him. He cracks open his eyes and sees the tallest of their group standing above him, bloody machete in hand, fierce determination in his eyes.

He's grateful even though he truly believes he doesn't deserve to be saved.

At the other end of the street, the other boys race to maybe, just maybe rescue the two nearest the massive hoard. Out of the corner of one's vision, he sees the tall teen lift the fallen one into his arms and bolt down an alley. He feels a slight tug at his heart at being abandoned; but it's unwarranted. They should absolutely get to safety.

"This is so hopeless," one of the boys next to him cries, pace faltering.

The other smacks the back of the crying boy's head. "Don't give up!"

They're close to the other two. Perhaps if they take out the few undead directly behind them, they can all split up and get away. It isn't entirely a lost cause. Holding on to that thought, he swings his fire ax over the girl's head, successfully decapitating the creature behind her. "Hurry!" he calls, reaching out to grab her and pull her closer.

That moment, the left side of the girl's hair and clothing as well as the boy's outstretched arm is dyed in red. His eyes flicker to the source of the colour and he instantly regrets it. As if in slow motion, the boy he'd sent away with the girl is brought to a standstill. His eyes are wide. There's a hand sticking clean out of his chest, right where his heart should be.

"No!" he screams as time seems to speed back up. The girl is sobbing in terror as the boy next to her is dragged away by undead arms. _No, no, no, no. Screw this_.

Forgetting the others completely, he grabs the girl and practically throws her up a nearby fire escape, quickly joining her. It's not the best idea ever, but it's the only he has. "Just fucking run!" he yells at her. He feels his own eyes burn with tears as he turns and slaughters the few undead that attempt to follow them. But now that they have ready-to-eat meat they're not as intent as they were before. They can get away. Possible the others as well. The sad ending of their friend may save them all.

* * *

 **So, this is the prologue to my new story. This may be a bit confusing. I was purposely vague with the characters because their fates have to do with the actual plot.** **A lot more will be explained later. I have the zombies figured out and everything, so you won't be lost the whole time, I promise. I just wanted to give you a taste of the action (which I suck at writing, I realize, haha) There will be lots of plot though, some that takes place before this and some after. And of course the main plot will focus on Kagami and Kuroko, hehe.**

 **I suck at English, so please tell me if you see any mistakes. Also please let me know if you're interested in this! It means a lot and will really motivate me to write if you are! (Though I'm afraid that this prologue is too confusing and boring, but I'll see how you guys like it, I guess.)**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Early morning finds Kagami Taiga sitting on the roof of a tall office building in downtown Saitama, Japan. The sun has only been up for half an hour so it's still cool out. He's lounging near the edge, soaking up the sun and watching the absent-minded bodies wander about outside the fence that surrounds the building. This is a pastime he quite likes; the zombies are quite stupid when they don't smell living flesh and they often bump into things and each other. The one he has his eye on is ran into by another. It turns and angrily takes a bite out of the one that ran into it. Realizing that it isn't living meat, the creature lets it fall from its mouth and the two continue to limp around.

Kagami's eyes travel to another. This one's seemingly avoiding all the others; it's deliberately stepping around them, never getting too close to one. This is strange. Unless they catch scent of a living human, they're typically very sluggish. Not this one, though.

Thinking it might be a new type, Kagami grabs his pistol and carefully takes aim at the zombie right in front of the strange one's head. He shoots. The zombie's head explodes and the other one spins quickly, eyes wide and startled, looking directly at Kagami.

This confirms it, Kagami thinks. Zombies can't see well; their eyes dry out due to lack of flowing bodily fluid to keep them moist. There's no way a zombie could see him from down there.

He quickly jolts down the stairs to the ground floor where most of the others are eating breakfast around a long table. Kagami's mouth waters slightly, even though he ate not an hour ago. He ignores the feeling and announces, "I think there's a kid out there."

"Huh?" their self-claimed leader, Hyuuga, questions. He's older than Kagami, but shorter and with glasses. Even though he doesn't look like much, he's an excellent planner and good motivator.

"A living, human kid I mean," Kagami clarifies. "I thought he was a zombie at first because they're not attacking him, but we made eye contact."

Hyuuga hurriedly swallows the last of his breakfast and stands. "How many people do you think we'll need?"

"Just a few. He's close by and we really just need to go out there and grab him." He steals some rice from the bowl in the center of the table. Just to tide himself over.

They grab Izuki and Mitobe, who were done eating, and went to get dressed in their fighting clothes. Fighting clothes being an entire leather outfit with boots, a helmet, and gloves. This prevents the beasts from scratching or biting them as easily. They load a few heavy weapons and now they're ready.

Kagami rarely gets nervous about leaving the safety of the fence anymore. They've accumulated good equipment and skills during the months they've been here, not to mention he can count on every single one of the people he's with.

"Tell us how he looks so we don't accidentally shoot him," Hyuuga demands as he flips the switch for the electric fence to off.

"I dunno, he has light hair," Kagami whispers. The four boys head out of the safety of the fence carefully, trying not to make much noise so the undead don't notice them. "He was around this way." He leads them to the right, past a few zombies who sniff the air suspiciously. One starts growling in their direction but Mitobe silently finishes it off with a blade.

They walk a few more meters down the street until Kagami spots a mop of blue hair. He points it out to the others and they start in that direction quickly. Upon closer view, the kid doesn't look much like a kid at all. He seems to be more close to Kagami's own age, maybe a little younger and definitely a lot shorter.

Kagami recognises that they must be a frightening sight - four figures completely in black with weapons - because as soon as the boy catches sight of them, he takes off in the opposite direction. "Hey-" Kagami starts to call out to him, but before he can even get the words out, the boy trips and falls flat on his face. Kagami's voice caught the attention of the undead, though, and now they're turning toward the living, sniffing menacingly.

"Shit, let's go," Hyuuga says, readying his machete, his melee weapon of choice. They do use guns when needed, but those attract even more. Mitobe, who is about the size of Kagami, takes a few leaps forward and grabs the boy, lifting him off the ground and sprinting back towards the gate with the rest of them.

They make it make into the building safely, offing a few zombies along the way and turning the electricity for the fence back on, keeping the others at bay. The kid they just rescued still looks a little scared but his face is full of resignation. He only starts to relax when they leave him in the living area to go and take their gear off.

"Kagami," Hyuuga begins as he hangs up his leather pants and grabs his normal jeans. "It's your turn, correct?"

They have a system set up for who gets the new people settled in and trains them. They haven't gotten anyone new in quite a while so Kagami doesn't actually know if it's his turn, but he nods in agreement anyway.

Kagami finishes changing and drops by the kitchen to grab a couple waters before going back out to meet the newcomer in the main room. This time he takes in his appearance more thoroughly. He's quite short, compared to Kagami, with a tuff of messy, light blue hair. His blue eyes stand out startlingly against his very pale skin. His shirt is torn and soaked in old blood.

"Here." Kagami hands him one of the waters. He shifts his shirt awkwardly, as if to hide the holes, and takes it. "What's your name?" Kagami decides to ask first.

He opens his mouth to answer but nothing comes out except air, as if he hasn't talked in a while. He opens the water and takes a long, slow sip. Kagami waits patiently for a few minutes while the boy lubricates his throat. "K-Kuroko Tetsuya," he finally gets out, voice quite raspy. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kagami replies, opening his own water and gulping deeply. "How long have you been out there?"

"I'm not sure. A long time." A pause. "I thought you were going to shoot me."

Kagami laughs. "Sorry. I was just testing your response. Wasn't about to go out there for a zombie, and no offense but you really look like one."

"I am not offended." He shifts his shirt again.

"That's a lot of blood," Kagami observes. The only white parts left are the short sleeves and some of the collar. He vaguely wonders if it's dead blood or Kuroko's own.

Another question pops into Kagami's mind. "Why weren't the zombies attacking you?"

Kuroko doesn't answer right away, instead choosing to fiddle with his shirt some more. "I'm just hard to notice, I suppose."

Watching him mess with that dirty, torn up shirt, Kagami was suddenly jolted into the realization that he wasn't being a very good host. He beckons Kuroko to follow him and heads down the hall and into the supply room. This is where they keep all the extra blankets and clothing and other similar things.

"You can pick out some different clothes," Kagami tells him, gesturing toward a few boxes. "Then I'll show you to a bathroom so you can clean up. We have running water. Not sure if it's safe for drinking, but it's fine for cleaning."

There's silence as Kuroko shuffles through the clothes. He picks out a dark blue, long sleeved shirt, a pair of light blue jeans, a pack of underwear and socks, and, for some reason, a pair of black gloves. "I get cold easily," he explains to Kagami's questioning look.

Since this is an office building, they don't have an actual shower, just a makeshift one in the downstairs bathroom. Two, actually. One for the girls as well. "All the soap and shampoo and things are in here," Kagami states, gesturing toward a tote under the sinks. "And towels are in this one."

"Thank you very much." There's a slightly awkward pause as the two study each other for a few seconds.

"So..." Kagami starts, not breaking eye contact. "Do you need anything else?"

"I think this is all, thank you." Kuroko doesn't look away either. "I like your eyes."

The statement shocks Kagami out of his trance. "Ah, thank you?" How is he supposed to reply to such a random remark? "Well, I-I'll leave you to it." He turns to leave.

"Wait." Kagami turns back to the blue-haired boy, heart pounding strangely. "I didn't get your name."

Oh. Did he really forget to introduce himself? What is this guy doing to him? "Kagami Taiga," he mutters.

"Nice to meet you," Kuroko says, very polite.

"Likewise." Kagami finally makes his way out of the room. As soon as he closes the door, he leans against it and sighs heavily. What is happening? He doesn't get nervous, not ever. He's outspoken and fights zombies, for God's sake. He lightly smacks himself on the head. "Get yourself together, Taiga."

* * *

 **Hey, look, an update. Haha, thank you for reading. Sorry for the long wait and short chapter. I was originally planning to have very long chapters but decided short ones would be better because I'm slow. Please tell me what you think! (Especially about the pace of relationship you want - I'm planning on a moderately fast one, but if you want slow, I can do that instead.)**


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